Raven's Watch flame-farewelled

Dutch will be a good leader.

Fjall clung to the name in his thoughts, using it to pull his head out of the sad waters churning over him. He found that he could breathe again, though his lungs still felt waterlogged. The curiosity stronger than the hopelessness. If Moonmother still had faith, then there was something to be said of such a thing. She, after all, had seen many tragedies, seen many parts of her family come and go, and she persisted still.

As if these terrible things had made her stronger each time; added another brick to her house, given her another patch to her quilt, provided her with another fur for her hearth.

A dawning sense of awe came upon him then, and he suddenly understood why his mother loved her, and why he belonged in these lands blessed by her presence.

But there is a son of the moon.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. But it will not be the same without her, he protested still, a willful child at heart. Again that boy who had never given up on being with his mother, no matter how long they were apart. Though he spoke now of Ariadne, it was the same thing for him as with Lótë: an inability to let go of those he loved and walk his own path.

To him, his life was nothing if not in service of someone else. He hardly even knew what it was to think of himself over anyone else, let alone how to implement such a thing into his own life. I feel my spirit walk will remain unfinished until I tell her it is done… It was impossible to tell if he was still speaking of his sister or not.